Monday, March 17, 2008

The Penrose Mormon Church

This church was built from lumber sawed from logs that were in a logjam on the Shoshone River, a short distance from where the Church stood. Our grandfather Wasden was bishop of the congregation for 13 years. Dad (Russell Blood) bought the building and tore it down in the 1950s, using lumber to build an addition to our family home. One of my recurring dreams is a dream that there is a secret and wondrous room in the attic of this building. Dad used to dream that he had to put the building back together after he had torn it down, along with Uncle Norman Sorensen. While they were tearing the building down, they discovered a huge honey hive in the walls, and had the honey extracted. At one point, the entire roof structure collapsed and nearly came down on top of them. Miraculously, Dad and Uncle Norman escaped. The girls used to go over and practice the piano. The building served as a community center for many years, and was the site of old-fashioned country dances with fiddles sawing away until early morning hours. Two outhouses provided the facilities. Those of us who grew up while the Church building was there still miss it. The Church was a legacy of the struggling pioneers who were the first farmers in the valley. For the bill that itemizes the kinds of furniture and their costs for this Church, see the post below. Be sure to double-click the copy of the bill so you can read it clearly.

5 comments:

That is one of the best pictures I have seen of the old church. We (Judy, Steve and I) played so many games on the stairs to the church. It was truly a magical place. I do remember the Saturday night it caught on fire and the fire engines from either Powell or Byron came. The outhouse was a favorite spot for mischief on Halloween, as it would quite often end up tipped on it's side the next morning. It had to be tipped back upright on more than one occasion.I always thought Grandpa was the Bishop, not the Branch President. Somewhere in some of his papers, I thought I saw that info. Please help me out with that tidbit.

Other notes about the old church. Louise, Dwight, and I were blessed in that church. The wooden cupboards on the stage held a selection of books from those that the Relief Society members had read. They included "Song of Years", "Mother Mason", Sandburg's "Lincoln, the Prairie Years", George Eliot's "Adam Bede", Elizabeth Goudge's "City of Bells","Tree of Liberty" and several others that don't come to mind right now. We read and re-read those books. Also, the old piano was terribly out of tune, but we bought a John Thompson's beginning piano book, and went over to try to "learn" how to play. Mother had a key to the church by dint of her being Relief Society President of the small congregation of aging ladies who still lived in Penrose (Grandma Wasden, Bothilda Berthleson, Jane Parkin, etc.), as well as being an election official. When election day came, she was at the church early, and stayed most of the day. Who served with her?

Grandpa was the bishop. He told the story of traveling on the train from Deaver to a destination I don't remember with one of the Church officials who had come to Cowley for a conference. Grandpa was telling him that the land his farm was on had a terrible problem of turning to alkali because of poor drainage. The man was commiserating with Grandpa, but he asked him what his calling was - When Grandpa told him he was the bishop, the man said that he should find some way to drain the fields because he was needed in the community. Of course, they went on to establish a drainage system for the valley.About the fire - it was discovered after the fact that the fire district did not at that time extend to Penrose. We were still glad the fire was put out.

At some point, the ward became a branch. Does anyone know when? When I received my baby blessing in 1932 from Grandpa Wasden, the certificate of blessing was signed by Charles Anderson, or, as we fondly called him, Charley Barley. I was never sure how long Grandpa was a bishop, and when the ward was changed to a branch. This photo is actually one of the very few of the old church and the only one I know about; I wish others could come up with more. I have long wished that someone would have taken photos inside the building, but as Burchell Hopkin commented when I asked him if he knew of any, photos just couldn't be taken inside buildings in those days.

At some point, the ward became a branch. Does anyone know when? When I received my baby blessing in 1932 from Grandpa Wasden, the certificate of blessing was signed by Charles Anderson, or, as we fondly called him, Charley Barley. He signed it as Branch President. I was never sure how long Grandpa was a bishop, and when the ward was changed to a branch. This photo is actually one of the very few of the old church and the only one I know about; I wish others could come up with more. I have long wished that someone would have taken photos inside the building, but as Burchell Hopkin commented when I asked him if he knew of any, photos just couldn't be taken inside buildings in those days.

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Welcome to our blog. We look forward to getting acquainted with and linking to other familes who want to know more about who we are. We have come a long way from our rural beginnings in the small country valley of Penrose in northwest Wyoming, but our roots and fond memories are still attached to where we began.

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